The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has crossed the majority mark (122 seats out of 243) in early leads in Bihar Assembly, according to the Election Commission figures.
Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United, however, has fallen far behind ally BJP and the saffron party has emerged as the single largest party in the contest.
Significantly, Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party looks set to improve its tally and is leading on more numbers of seats than last time.
LJP and other smaller parties may hold the key in the government formation if the NDA falls short of the half-way mark.
As of 12.55 pm, the NDA is leading in 130 seats while the grand alliance is ahead in 102 seats.
With the trends changing in the results, confidence seemed to be returning to the BJP as the workers started assembling at their party office in Patna.
Sujeet Rana, spokesperson of OBC cell of the BJP in Bihar said, “Silent voters are with us, women generally do not come out of their houses but they know the good governance in Bihar.
“Liquor ban was a great initiative in Bihar that women appreciated. Crime was controlled by and large under the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.”
Rana further said that seats of the BJP are expected to increase in Bihar.
There are 23 seats currently where the margin is less than 500 votes and 27 seats with a lead of only 500-1,000 votes, indicating a tight contest in the Bihar polls, NDTV reported.
There is still time for the final results, as only 11 per cent of votes have been counted till 11:30 am.